Home Networking - Coaxial Cable

I could use some expert advice ... we are trying to set-up a home network on a property that is not conducive to a wireless network or running new ethernet cables. Can we use the existing coaxial able system for TV as the wiring for our home network? We are using DSL at the moment - can we send the signal through the existing coaxial cable to hook-up the rest of the computer on the property? Seems like this question creates a deer in the head lights look with the folks at Best Buy and others ... ?!?! Please help! Thank You!

Networks based on Ethernet cable are less expensive and operational cost is
very less. You may opt for co-ax to ether converter ,but it will be very
expensive in terms of performance & maintenance.
Rather you can also build a WLAN.
Regards

what are u trying to do give everyone in a apartment complex internet? i
don't understand why u are running Coaxial cable?
everyone would have to have a subscriber DSL box at there End in order
for that to work, because the cable company
subscribes a customer to internet through the DSL box's MAC address,
whats the issue with wireless why cant u use that?
in reference to using coaxial cable u would have BNC
connectors,token-ring Ethernet cards and balons splitters on each
machine but u couldn't run cable TV through these Connections, so your
going to end up running another coaxial cable to each location good
lord what a hassel your making this ALOT more difficult that it needs to
be!!!!
i'd like to hear why u can't use Wireless Ethernet?

Have you considered usin your current electric wires already in place by
using Homeplug/broadband over power line ?
Both Linksys and Dlink and Netgear among others have these units out that
just plug into your electric wall plugs and one end into your router/switch.
Best Buy used to carry the Netgear units.

The fundamental issue is that TV co-ax cable is a different impedance than twisted pair cable, as well as the different connectors, of course.
Therefore you would need baluns to convert the F-type connectors and 75 ohm impedance TV co-ax to the RJ45 connectors for 100 ohm impedence Cat5 twisted pair cable. You are unlikely to find anyone at BestBuy who understands any of that. You will likely have to find a telecom cable supplier for parts like that. GOOGLE is your friend. They do exist though. Our company uses them to distribute cable TV over the twisted pair infrastucture in the building.

A standard access point will transmit it signal for about 100 ft. The signal radiates in 3 dimension and provides coverage roughly in the shape of a football.

You can get extended range wireless devices; you can get directional antenna;
You can configure an access point as a relay device, making the range over 200 ft.

Wireless signals can go through almost anything, (soemthings will reduce the signal strength very quick).

As for using coax. do an web search for media extenders or converts (Not sold in Best Buys). Look for a device that will allow you to use twisted pair wire. Use the center conducter as one wire and the braded ground as the 2 nd conducter. This should work. What you will have is an extended lan. you will need a ethernet workgroup switch

Coax is "old school" networking. You can still do it though-- it is especially useful if you need your network to go outside and be weathered a bit. It is known as thin-net, or 10-base 2. You might have trouble finding NIC cards.

Older broadband data systems (pre thinnet and thicknet) that consisted of
trunk cables (.750") which ran from amplifier to amplifier and feeder cables
(.500") 2,4,6, and 8-port taps were used for campus environments which
served as a means to share data from building to building. RG-59 or RG-6
cables were installed from the tap to a multiplexor in which computers in a
general area were connected via a serial port (RS-232 C).

The trunk cables that led to the different buildings were home run to a
central retransmission facility (head end) where a proprietary bridge
(Sytek, Ungermann-Bass, HughesLan Systems) which acted as the traffic
controller or Layer 2 device, and handled CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple
Access/ Collision Detection). The return carrier was set on the low side of
the spectrum and took up 4 Mbps of bandwidth, while the forward was set to
the higher side of the spectrum and also took up 4 Mbps. The signals were
then sent out through a broadband amplifier to its destination.

Each amplifier in the system had a band pass filter to clarify the forward
and return paths. Low, mid and high band pass filters were used according to
the utilization of the audio and video that was transmitted on the same
cable. Each amplifier had a forward and return amplifier. Trunk bridgers
(not bridges) were used to send the signal to a .500" port which ran to the
respective tap.

This is the correct way to implement a broadband computer network. However,
the latest technology is the master unit which is ok if you connect 2 to 4
users. Any more than that and you are asking for a headache.

P.S

There is a reason why the industry made the older broadband system
obsolete. Cost of installation, maintenance, and repair. The latest
technology isn't cheap either. If you have more than 4 users that are going
to be on this LAN, I highly suggest that you have a Cat5e or Cat6 installed.

If in a pinch, you can use AC outlet networking adapters for the entire
house. This gives you Ethernet capability, without messing around with
cabling. Use your house's wiring do do the work for you. Just get yourself
as many adapters that you may need, to connect the computers together.